CHAPTER 8
THE NECTAR
(32-37) When the tongue is bent back into the gullet and the eyes are fastened upon the point between the eyebrows, this is khecari mudra. When the membrane below the tongue is cut, and the tongue is shaken and milked, one can extend its length until it touches the eyebrows. Then khecari mudra is successful. –Take a clean, shining knife and cut the breadth of a hair into the fine membrane that connects the tongue with the lower part of the mouth [the froenum lignum]. Then rub that area with a mixture of salt and turmeric powder. After seven days again cut a hair’s breadth. Follow this for six months. The membrane is then completely separated. When the yogi now curls his tongue upward and back he is able to close the place where the three paths meet. The bending back of the tongue is khecari mudra and [the closing of the three paths] is akasha chakra,
Here again some fundamental questions arise. The indignant objection of the reader, although at this point it represents a suspect prejudice, is quite understandable from a mortal point of view. But, as we know, a great deal of yoga is not accessible to the logical mind, and thus the “reasonable” average thinker will reject the more essential part of yoga because much of it (seen from his point of view) is nonsense. He will even be right, for a logical sense that satisfies the mind in a logical,
materially purposeful manner, is lacking in the key points of yoga. It is non-sense for the scientific explorer and deep-sense for the experiencer.
The “three paths” areclosed: the nasal passage, the pharynx, and the trachea. This is the vas bene clausum of the alchemists.
There are three ways to close the gates: with the natural muscles of the organs concerned; with the fingers; and from the inside, as taught here. To the logician it may all seem the same, whichever method is used. But let him test whether it really is all the same. Close your eyes and mouth and hold your breath. Nothing happens. Then close your ears with the thumbs, the eyes with the index fingers, the nostrils with the middle fingers, and the mouth with the remaining fingers. How the sensation with this type of closure differs from the first one is easily determined in this way. Now, in order to get some impression of the third method described above, have someone else close your passages according to the second set of instructions. And again the sensation will be different. This becomes especially impressive once the breath runs out. Suddenly you areat the mercy of another; you experience dependency, lack of freedom. On a small scale you experience the fear of death, this feeling of being helplessly at the mercy of death that actually means being handed over to one’s own inadequacies.
(38) The yogi who remains but half a minute in this position [with upturned tongue and imperturbable calm] is free from illness, old age and death.
Try to imagine the feelings of a person in this situation. The tongue is far back in the throat; there is no breath. There is, however, a growing fear as to what may happen if one does not succeed in bringing the tongue back to normal. To have to remain for as little as half a minute in this terrible anxiety can lead to insanity. But as long as “.he danger of fear exists no guru will advocate this practice, for the dreaded will most assuredly happen the moment panic arises. Only with calm reflection can the tongue be brought back to its natural position, and the face of the yogi will tell the apprehensive spectator how difficult it is, and that it really is a matter of life or death. Yet he who is so unperturbed in the face of death that even this possibility cannot seriously disturb his equilibrium, has the means in his hand to pass consciously through the darkest regions of creation and dissolution. He is free from that which death represents to the average mortal: the final judgment that he must face in fetters.
(39) For him who masters this khecari mudra there will be no more [physical helplessness in bodily conditioned situations such as] illness, death, mental sluggishness, hunger, thirst, or cloudi-ness in thinking.
He is no longer subject to the overpowering law of nature, whose most painful aspect is the fact that all spiritual processes are sacrificed to this law. He remains undisturbed and calm even at the time of death, and thus deprives it of its dark power.
(40) He is free from [the laws of] karma and time has no power over him.
Fear in the state of helplessness is chiefly the panic-stricken thought: “What is going to happen?” It is uncertainty about the future, and thus involvement in time. But he for whom time does not exist is not troubled by its uncertainty. Karma, the Indian concept of fate based on the immutable law of causality, of cause and effect, is suspended when time does not exist. Only a process, i.e. a time-conditioned event, can cause a time-112
conditioned effect. A state–a situation unconditioned by time (which we cannot comprehend, because thinking is a process, not a state)–is cause and effect in not as dynamic sequence but as static ens. Karma is the effect (dynamic) of the deed (active). The self-contained, meditative state that has freed itself from the time-space conditioned outside world is karmically neutral (static, passive). When time is conquered there is no more karma.
(41) The mudra is called khecari by the siddhas because the mind as well as the tongue remains in “ether” for the duration of the practice.4
Ether, a vibration plane in the universe, is finer than all that is composed of atoms and molecules, and thus is an intermediary between the world of atoms and the world of consciousness. Science has not as yet made a final decision concerning the existence or non-existence of ether, the quinta essentia of matter. But the yogi cannot waste his time with the changing fashion of science. While science investigates, he continues to build with his “unproven theories.”
(42^43) Once he has closed the throat in khecari mudra he cannot be aroused by the most passionate embrace, and even if he were in the state of an ecstatic lover he still could negate the result through certain practices.5
The example of the most compelling temptation is presented here to prove that through khecari mudra the state of complete and
4. The commentary breaks down the word khecari into the root kha == the empty sphere of the sky, and the root car = to move. The real origin of Khecari is khecar = sun. The reason for this we will see later.
5. These two slokas have been rather freely translated. The reason is given in Part Three, 84.
absolute absorption in meditation is possible. We know that one of the preparations of the yogis who allow themseives to be buried for days or weeks is khecari mudra. In this state all bodily functions are suspended for the time being, and the body appears to be dead, because the activating, life-giving prana is absorbed in the sushumna.
But it is not only prana that is isolated. What else? Is it really possible that the upturned tongue can produce such mysterious results?
(44) He who with upcurled tongue and concentrated mind drinks the nectar conquers death in IS days–provided he masters yoga.
We recall the legend of the churning of the ocean of milk where from this ocean, with the aid of the world mountain, the nectar of life was to be produced. The mountain of the world, so we learned, is, in the human universe, the spinal column, the carrier of the life centers. The snake, wound around the mountain, is kundalini, the potential divine force of nature. The gods who pulled on one end symbolize the higher life forces; the demons on the other end represent sheer physical forces. The tortoise that supported the mountain is the power of yoga, of divine origin and universal.
But what is the ocean of milk, and what is the nectar? That is the theme of this chapter. We hear at the beginning that the kapha current of the life force is called nectar (soma). And where is the source of the current that is said to turn into poison if the student’s balance is disturbed?
The cosmology of the “Puranas,” the ancient Indian garland of legends (and a treasure trove of the secret teachings, if one knows how to read it) tells us that the ocean of milk lies
between the Isles of Shaka and Pushkara (Bhagavata Purana V, 20). Shaka is the mythological name for ajna chakra, between the eyebrows, and Pushkara that of the sahasrara chakra at the crown of the head. Between these two centers lies the ocean of milk, the source of the nectar. That is where the kapha current originates.
This shows that kapha, the nectar, is not )ust any kind of secretion, for the primary functional and structural elements cannot be delineated so simply. True, the explanation that the inversion of the tongue diverts the kapha current, i.c. the biological process of evolution (or at least part of it) is not evident; we have to accept this as a given fact. Irregularities in the course of this current or process, which as a rule lead to illness, are produced at will and utilized for positive purposes. Through “supreme spirituality,** a physical process is transmuted into a spiritual one.
No one can tell what this fluid is, if indeed it is a fluid. Is it a glandular secretion ? Possibly. Most likely, yes. But this should not tempt us to make fruitless speculations. In any case, the tip of the upcurled tongue touches a point on the mucous membrane and through this touch some process of endocrine secretion is altered.
(45) The yogi who daily saturates his body with the nectar that flows from the “moon” is not harmed by poisons even when bitten by the snake Taskshaka.
You may think as you like about khecari mudra, you may consider the matter of the “nectar” naive or ridiculous; the fact remains that there are countless yogis who can take even large quantities of deadly poisons without any harm to their bodies. This fact has been verified by medical authorities.
(46) Just as fire burns as long as there is wood, as the lamp burns as long as the oil and the wick last, so also the life germ [jivan] remains in the body while it is regulated by the “beams of the moon” [nectar].
The source of the nectar is the “moon” in the area of the brain stem. The “cooling beams of the moon,” a term known in the mythologies of all countries, drip into the “fire of the sun” that burns in the region of the diaphragm and, so to speak, represents the flame of life (solar plexus). But the nectar is not fuel for this fire; to the contrary, it subdues and regulates the embers that areconstantly being fanned into new life by the vata current. It is a direct, active messenger of consciousness to the functions of the vegetative system. When the supply is impeded we have fever; with an oversupply the fire becomes weak. When the demons of coarse bodily nature, while churning the ocean of milk, prematurely sampled the nectar before it had been wisely apportioned to them by the gods of mind, they poisoned themselves because the organic balance was disturbed.
(47-49) Daily he may “eat the fiesh of the cow” and “drink wine,” still he will remain a son of noble family. The word “cow” [go] means tongue. When one lets it penetrate into the throat it is called “to eat the flesh of the cow,” and this destroys all sins. –When the tongue enters the throat there ensues great heat in the body. This causes the nectar to flow from “the moon” and that is what is called “drinking wine” [amara-varuni].*
•”In the above two stanzas is given an excellent instance of the way the Hindu occult writers veil their real meaning under apparently absurd symbols. The principle seems to be this. They thought that the very absurdity of the symbol and its inconsistency with the subject in hand would force the reader to think that there was something under it and so he should look deeper for an explanation of this absurdity. A misconception of this rule seems to have given rise to many absurd interpretations of really occult symbols, and many pernicious practices that promote animal tendencies and passions. As examples of these . . . the whole mystic terminology of the Tantras that has given rise to so many disgusting practices.” (Iyangar, of. cit, p. 58 f.) –Trans.
In order to fan the fire of “burning asceticism” the nectar has to be diverted from its usual course into the fire of life. But the stream is not only diverted; it is also utilized in other ways.
(50-51) When it remains pressed in the throat passage, the tongue is able to receive the nectar “beams of the moon,” which are [simultaneously] salty, hot, and pungent, but also lilke milk, honey, and ghee. Then all diseases are eliminated, and also old age. Thus he will be able to teach all the Vedas and the Shastras; and he has power to attract the damsels of the siddhas. –He who with upturned gaze and tongue in throat meditates on kundalini [parashakti] and drinks from the pure source of the nectar stream that flows from the “moon” in the head into the 16-petaled lotus [the vishuddha chakra], he will be free from all diseases and will live long with a beautiful body, delicate as a lotus petal–if during practice he keeps prana under control.
Here we have the answer to the question: “Where does the nectar flow once it is deviated from its natural course, the fire of life (solar plexus)?” The tongue guides it into the vishuddha chakra (in the throat), i.e. into the most important one, the 16-petaled lotus that carries the sound a, the primeval sound which even precedes 0m (Aum). Thus he is enabled to teach all the Vedas and the Shastras. Here we cannot help but think of the saying: “His words flow like nectar from his lips” –like a nectar that flows from his mind.
In vishuddha chakra (so the scriptures tell us) the birth of the word takes place. Cognition here becomes word.
The fruit from the Tree of Knowledge gets stuck in Adam’s throat, and paradisc is lost. The poison that the gods churn from the ocean of milk is swallowed by Siva, and it remains in his throat which becomes blue. The fruit gets stuck in Snow White’s throat too—the undigested fruit of the dark mother aspect, which she does not recognize as her fruit and thus is unable to “digest.”
The fruit of the process of evolution is always twofold: nectar for the perfect one, poison for the all-too-human one. The nectar is at the highest level, in its noblest aspect, pure spirit. For the materialist it is just what its gross aspect represents: the manifold bodily secretions. Just as the crude aspect of alcohol is merely a liquid–until it is imbibed. Then it shows its strength.
(52) Inside of the upper part of Mount Merit–that if the sushumna–there, in the opening, nectar is secreted. He who has a pure sattva mind, not overshadowed by rajas and tamos, therein recognizes the Truth \his own Atman]. It is the gully into which the currents discharge themselves. From the “moon” flows the nectar, the bodily essence, and hence the death of the mortals. Therefore one should practice the beneficial khecari mudra. Otherwise no siddhis will be attained.
(53) The sushumna, especially its [upper] opening, is the place of confluence of the five rivers and bestows divine knowledge. in the void of the opening which is freed from the influence of ignorance [avidya], sorrow, and delusions [of maya], the khecari mudra reaches perfection.
Just as breath (the vata element) has five currents (the five vayus), so also has the nectar of the kapha element, and so there are five fires that burn inside. However, the “asceticism of the five fires” (pancagni tapas) is a little different from that which is seen today at Rishikesh or Benares, where Siva sadhus light four great fires around themselves (the sun is considered to be the fifth) and try to slowly roast into the sainthood which is more distant from them than the sun.
(54) There is only one germ of evolution, and that is 0m; there is only one mudra: khecari; only one duty: to become independent from everything; and only one spiritual state [avastha]: deep meditation [mano-mani].
